I'll begin with an apology. Not only have I been away quite a lot through August I've been fiddling around with my laptop to make it run faster - and wasted a lot of time doing so. It means I've not been around much and I'm in a hurry now.
I've also got a moan. Having removed Photoshop Elements - I can't get it to go back again. I use it lightly. Sometimes a shadow needs to be lightened, a mid-tone contrast accentuated. Always to nudge the picture closer to what I saw when I saw it. And I'm missing it. When the sun is bright, I don't need it. But the sun wasn't bright when I visited my tree. You'll see!
The ground was dry immediately next to the trunk.
But only a couple of feet away the grass was lush with docks.
I saw a spider.
And a seed caught in the bark.
I wondered if a branch had been cut since last I was there but it was too high up for me to properly see.
At least the tree is alive. I chose it because I thought it was about to die. Instead, trees of the same kind opposite are dying but 'mine' survives. Here is one I think is bound for the chop.
* * *
It's never too late to follow a tree - to observe what happens to it through the seasons. I was pretty daft to chose one with needles. But it's a challenge I don't regret.
13 comments:
and, is your laptop faster?
Just download Elements and install it. The old activation code should work.
Hi Diana - no, not really. It goes in bursts of comparative speed then slows down. (Unrelated to internet.) Maybe I'll have to get a new laptop. I'm wasting a lot of time gazing at blank screens and little wheels turning at the top of the page. If I do, I think I'll try a different internet security as I'm told mine can slow things down. (Not that that's the intrinsic problem. It's that laptops don't last as long as I'd like them to.)
Hello Adrian. That's one of the problems - it won't download from the internet. I have a disc which has stopped working so I haven't had to download before and it won't do so now. Maybe I'm doing it wrong. I don't know. But I can't get the download to work any more than I can the disc to do anything but grind and wail. I've spoken with Adobe and they say someone will be in touch to help but . . . my hair grows longer and if I had a beard it would be growing grey. (Maybe Photoshop Elements 9 is a bit trivial to them - but it was expensive for me!)
Speaking of beards - that's a striking new picture.
lovely post thank you for sharing
lovely post thank you for sharing
Thanks Linda. Not as lovely as it would have been if it had been sunny. (Of course, today (Sunday)is sunny but I've already written the post!)
Quite a big spider. I really do love how you make the most unusual observations about your tree. I do need to get closer and really take a longer deeper look.
I wonder how many years of monthly posts there will be before my witch hazel displays spiders and seed heads..... :) Thanks for hosting
Fascinating photos.
I must take a close look at my willow this week and take some photos for the tree following post I'll be doing. Flighty xx
it's the little things that make tree following so fascinating and you've an eye for that
it's also the little things that drive us to volcanic eruptions when they refuse to work. Sorry to hear about your PS probs - have you tried some of the online photo editors eg Pixlr, iPiccy PicMonkey etc - they are not just play tools
Lovely photos, Lucy, Photoshop or no Photoshop! The spider is particularly alluring. I hope you get your laptop sorted ... few things are more annoying. I'm very late with my posting but it is finally in place.
I find it so very frustrating that laptops - computers of any kind really - seem to become impossibly slow impossibly quickly, if you follow me. I now have to go away and get myself a cup of tea while I wait for my desktop machine to boot, or I'd end up hurling things at the screen in frustration. As for Photoshop, possibly a licensing issue with Adobe? I've run in to problems with them thinking I have used up all my licences with their software when actually all I have done is reinstall after rebuilding a machine. Worth getting in touch with them to check?
In the mean time, I am glad your tree isn't as close to death as you thought, and as ever I am impressed at your powers of observation. Love the fluff caught on the bark, reminds me of sheep's wool caught on barbed wire!
Hope that you can get your laptop and associated issues sorted out Lucy. Glad to read that your tree is hanging on in there. Love that valiant tuft of grass growing close up to the tree trunk.
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